Trent XWB engine issues include 2020 blade cracks and 2024 Cathay Pacific fire incident
The Rolls‑Royce Trent XWB entered service in 2015 on the Airbus A350.
The XWB‑84 powers the A350‑900 with a thrust rating of up to 84,000 lb, while the XWB‑97 powers the A350‑1000 and A350F with a rating of up to 97,000 lb; the engine features a 118‑inch fan, a bypass ratio of 9.6:1 and an overall pressure ratio of 50:1. In 2020, premature cracking was found in the IPC blades of early XWB‑84s during overhauls, and in 2024 a XWB‑97 on a Cathay Pacific A350‑1000 caught fire after a fuel‑nozzle component failed, which was later linked to a maintenance cleaning procedure rather than the engine design.
Why it matters
Cathay Pacific grounded its A350 fleet for inspections after the fire, affecting its operations before returning the aircraft to service.